How Can A Student Fulfill Her Dream?

“What your mind can conceive, you can achieve.” These are the words that can magically turn your dreams into reality.

Imagine that you are walking along at night at the brightly lighted Champs Elysees, enjoying the city that you admire the most. You said to yourself, “At last, I realize my dream to set foot to this lovely city. It’s good that I did not give up of my dream.”

Indeed, success awaits those who make it happen.

Recently, I received an FB message from a graduating student. How she found me, I don’t know. It’s must be at random. During our exchange of messages, she informed me that it is her dream to live and work in Paris. I told her that most Filipinos here are working in households and that she can’t use her education. This is not to discourage her, but I know there are some Pinoys who are entrepreneurs and some are working in companies aside from providing services to families.

So far, below are the ways I know how one can come and live here in Paris.

The hard way
Most Pinoys coming to Paris use the services of travel agents. They pay around P500,000 just to come here. With this big amount, mostly Pinoys coming here are people who have families already in Paris. Once they arrive here, the jobs they can find here are household helps – nannies, caregivers, gardiens and the likes. It’s rare that they were able to utilize their education attainment in the Philippines. So if one will go with this way, she should find some people who would be willing to help her while she stays here looking for a job. Also, that she is willing to invest a great sum of money to pay a travel agency.

The other way
Since she is about to finish her college, I suggested that she should try applying to other European countries as an au-pair. This will take her a year or two contracts before she can move to Paris and find a job here. This suggestion will save her the big amount; she just had to sacrifice a year or two with low salary. She should also save her earnings as her emergency fund that she can use while in Paris looking for a job.

The work around
But what one really needs to come to Paris is a visa that costs more or less 200 Euros, travel insurance for less than 50 Euros and a round-trip ticket of 800 Euros. The hard part using this way is only with the process of securing a visa. So if one has a registered business and a show-money around P200,000 to P500,000, she can easily get a travel visa.

I suggested that she can start a part-time business while studying. For a small amount of investment, she can get started with a network marketing company. Spending 5-7 hours a week, she can make her business get a head start before she graduate college.

And while she is still in school for few months more, she can find some friends who have dreams and goals as well. Using their dreams as a motivation, she can convince them that joining her business is a good way to realize those dreams and goals.

She should start as well getting in contact to her family, friends and relatives to make solicitations for their gift and support to realize her dream. With these family, friends and relatives, she must be able to convince a handful who will support her business and join her as well.

After presenting my suggestion about network marketing part-time business to the graduating student prospect, she asked, “Is there a guarantee that I will make money and be successful in this business?”

I said, “First, you will have to invest P600,000. Plus, you will have to train for four consecutive years at no pay. Finally, at the end of four years, there is no guarantee that you will have a fulltime job.”

She asked, “But how can I get that amount of money to invest? That’s a lot!”

I replied, “Oh wait! Sorry, my mistake. I was talking about your Political Science Degree investment. For your part-time business, you only need to invest P8,000; and if you invest 5-10 hours a week, in three years you may earn P600,000.”

Then I added, “As for my part, I will assist and guide you as you learn the business at your own speed. To start, you have to introduce me to two people that you think who have dreams that they want to fulfill. We will present to them your business, I will do the talking and you observe. After the presentation, I’m sure you will be able to learn how to present your business. By the time the semester is over, your part-time business starts to grow by its own.”